I want to focus for a minute on the ‘not easy’ part. More people simply MUST accept this. There is a reason … many actually … for why more people aren’t walking around with enviable physiques. It’s not easy. There’s a reason so many people are yo-yo dieters, gaining and losing the same 10 pounds year in and year out. It’s not easy. There’s a reason why people start a diet, and then quit, only to restart. It’s not easy.

You have to accept this if you want to have long-term success in taking control of your physique … and even your health for that matter.

There is a price to pay for getting in shape. It’s not free. It has a cost associated with it; whether that’s not being able to eat 8 cookies whenever you THINK your body is specifically telling you it needs cookies (it’s not by the way), or having to get to the gym when you don’t feel like it. Actually, the gym tends to be the easy part for most people. It’s the nutritional discipline that is the issue for most.

The question you have to ask yourself is, ‘once you realize there’s a cost, are you willing to pay it’? It’s another way of saying you’re going to have to make some sacrifices if you’re serious. If you’re not willing to, then stop complaining about not making any progress and looking the same all the time.

If you want to adopt an attitude that it’s always okay to cheat or be lax with your eating, then you’re going to look the same. Food will always be there. You want it today? It’ll be there tomorrow. The next day too.

it’s a mistake to have this ‘tolerance attitude’ that says ‘hey, you cheated again; it’s okay. It’s not a big deal”. And you’re right, it’s not a big deal … UNLESS you start complaining about not making any progress.

This is supposed to be hard. The sooner you accept that reality, the better off your chances of being successful. However, ‘hard’, isn’t a bad thing. It’s all in your outlook. Similarly, hunger isn’t a bad thing – unless you think it’s a bad thing. If you always associate hunger with bad feelings, whining, moaning, whoa-is-me complaining, than yes, you’re not going to be so happy are you? However, what if you shift your thinking? What if you decide to associate mild hunger with something positive – like perhaps the fact that eating in a deficit is necessary for fat loss and clearly eating less than your body wants is going to make you hungry. So two plus two equals hunger being a possible indicator that you’re on the right track.

Again, it’s all in the mindset. Choose to enjoy the process and you can’t fail. Choose to whine and complain, justify and excuse, and you can’t succeed.

Getting lean isn’t supposed to be easy. If it were, everyone would be. Accept it.